Possible Deer Hunting Changes

[Bluechip]

Numbers show most Louisiana hunters don't report their deer
deer tags
Louisiana's deer hunters are getting less compliant with deer-tagging regulations that were first implemented in 2008. (Photo by Todd Masson, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune) (Todd Masson)
Todd Masson, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune By Todd Masson, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
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on August 17, 2015 at 10:32 AM, updated August 17, 2015 at 10:38 AM
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Since the 2008-09 season, Louisiana hunters have been required to tag the deer they shoot and report the harvest to the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries via telephone or Internet. The tagging requirement was designed to give wildlife managers a clearer picture of the health of the state's herd and the number of deer that end up in freezers every year.

But the program has been a complete flop.

The reason is that the majority of Louisiana hunters simply refuse to report their deer, and the number of hunters who comply declines with each hunting season.

During the program's first year of implementation, 116,571 deer were reported as harvested by hunters. Nearly every subsequent year, however, the number of reported deer has fallen. During the most-recent deer season, only 65,081 deer were reported by hunters, which is fewer than half the department's estimated statewide harvest of 139,900.

The department issued more than 273,000 sets of deer tags for the 2014-15 season.

Due in part to the dwindling harvest estimate, the management agency is considering shortening the deer season or cutting seasonal bag limits.

Scott Durham, deer study leader for the department, said tagging-program compliance has certainly not gone the way the agency had hoped. He and his team must still rely on antiquated mail-survey data with low participation rates to make estimates about the health of the state's herd.

"It's very clear that we still have a big problem with that," he said. "It makes my job much more difficult to try to extrapolate what the real numbers are. We're eight years into (the tagging program) now, and my confidence in the numbers has certainly not increased."

According to the structure of the penalties for failing to comply with the law, failure to tag a deer is a bigger deal than forgetting to report it. If an agent catches a hunter with an untagged deer and cites that hunter, the potential fine ranges from $250 to $500, and the maximum amount of jail time is 90 days.

If, however, a hunter is caught with a tag missing from his or her license string and there's no confirmation number for having reported the deer, the potential fine for that offense is $100 to $350 and up to 60 days in jail.

Last season, enforcement agents statewide wrote 344 citations and 160 warnings to hunters who had failed to report deer they had previously harvested, but agents issued only 12 citations and two warnings to hunters who had failed to tag their deer, according to Adam Einck, media relations director for the department's enforcement division.

He said he's not sure there's any more department personnel can do.

"Enforcement agents have a wide number of responsibilities during hunting season, and making sure people are following the deer-tagging requirements is one of them," he said. "They are constantly checking hunters for compliance of all hunting regulations, and will issue tickets where there are regulations being broken, including deer-tagging requirements."

Louisiana's next deer season begins with the opening of archery season in Areas 3, 8 and 10 on Sept. 19.

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Todd Masson can be reached at tmasson@nola.com or 504.232.3054.

[eman]

Failure to report should cause loss of license the next season.

[Bluechip]

Originally Posted by eman

Failure to report should cause loss of license the next season.

I agree there should be some type of action.

[Top Dawg]

Why even have to report them anyways?? Just give a man his tags and be done with it. Texas don't seem to have any problems with their system.

[Crankbait36]

Deer numbers are down due to poor management from wildlife and fisheries such as allowing center fire rifles during primitive seasons and everyday doe days! Plain and simple they want revenue to mismanage our deer hurds!

[Top Dawg]

Originally Posted by Crankbait36

Deer numbers are down due to poor management from wildlife and fisheries such as allowing center fire rifles during primitive seasons and everyday doe days! Plain and simple they want revenue to mismanage our deer hurds!

I never got that. Why would they allow centerfire rifles in a "primitive" season? I really could care less cuz I'm not much into deer hunting but it seems like they're making something simple very complicated.

[meaux fishing]

Originally Posted by Top Dawg

I never got that. Why would they allow centerfire rifles in a "primitive" season? I really could care less cuz I'm not much into deer hunting but it seems like they're making something simple very complicated.

Its just calibers that have been around since before 1905 I think. They are single shot crack barrels, so its not like you get more than one opportunity to shoot.

[Juciy]

A tagging system is a joke unless it's metal tags. If they want real info, make hunters turn in the tags locked in a deer leg or unlocked (for non harvest) at the end of season. When the tags are not turned in, suspend license and tags for the next year. With this they can take tissue samples and age the deer in the lab. And boom, all the statistical data you can handle.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Spunt Drag]

30 and 3!

[capt coonassty]

Originally Posted by Juciy

A tagging system is a joke unless it's metal tags. If they want real info, make hunters turn in the tags locked in a deer leg or unlocked (for non harvest) at the end of season. When the tags are not turned in, suspend license and tags for the next year. With this they can take tissue samples and age the deer in the lab. And boom, all the statistical data you can handle.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I would imagine this would be more expensive. The metal tags would be cheap but having to pay people to sort, store and report on the data would mean increasing the cost of the tags. And everyone hates when licenses go up.

[Reggoh]

The tags they give out suck too...
On the deer I shot last year I tagged it before moving it from the kill site with a zip tie.
After I drug it to my ATV (about 400 yds away) I looked down and all I had was a zip tie. I had to back track the drag trail on my GPS and found the tag had ripped off about 50 yds back.

I have always reported my kills since they started this but it is easy to forget about it.

I've hunted in Wisconsin a few times over the years and I've been lucky enough to harvest a few deer. Up there you still have to tag your deer with the paper license tag but then you have to bring the kill to a license vendor within 24 hours for verification and they put the metal tags on it. So it doesn't cost the DNR anything... the vendors have to accept that responsibility as part of being a license vendor. Both of the bucks that I killed there still have the metal tag wrapped around the antlers.

[C-Bass2mouth]

Originally Posted by Spunt Drag

30 and 3!

Hahaha! ^^^

[Duckaholic]

I think someone had a brother-in-law in the tag business with a license contract when Louisiana made our stupid tag system. It is ridiculously long and gets separated into two or three pieces as soon as you use a tag. It's a quarter inch thick folded up in your wallet! Who thought this was a good idea???

Horrible! Just look across the Sabine and see how they do it, don't try to reinvent the concept...Just saying...

Duckaholic

[jchief]

The ones not reporting are going to end up hurting themselves with less season and lower harvest rates.

I don't think we have the deer that LDWF think we have and have never had.

As for as the "muzzle" loaders. They are trying to get more people into hunting any way they can. Increased revenue for them. More license and gun/ammo sales.

[Duck Butter]

Originally Posted by jchief

The ones not reporting are going to end up hurting themselves with less season and lower harvest rates.

I don't think we have the deer that LDWF think we have and have never had.

As for as the "muzzle" loaders. They are trying to get more people into hunting any way they can. Increased revenue for them. More license and gun/ammo sales.

This right here. We are only hurting ourselves by being too lazy to make a 30 second phone call. It isn't perfect, but a 6 year old can do it. It requires a pen, a ziptie, and a phone call. We all talk about how we need more data on this and that , and this is what the tag system does - provides data. The old way was a guess at best and now we COULD get a much better handle on our deer population IF people would call them all in.

[Chip Landry]

This might be a dumb question but here goes.. If you harvest a deer on a WMA or NWR during a lottery hunt or anytime that you are required to report your deer at a manned check station, do you still have to "report" your deer over the phone after it was checked by a warden?

[Bluechip]

Originally Posted by Chip Landry

This might be a dumb question but here goes.. If you harvest a deer on a WMA or NWR during a lottery hunt or anytime that you are required to report your deer at a manned check station, do you still have to "report" your deer over the phone after it was checked by a warden?

I don't know the official answer but I would say yes....

[meaux fishing]

Originally Posted by Chip Landry

This might be a dumb question but here goes.. If you harvest a deer on a WMA or NWR during a lottery hunt or anytime that you are required to report your deer at a manned check station, do you still have to "report" your deer over the phone after it was checked by a warden?

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1440036910.308734.jpg

[FF_T_Warren]

I think a lower bag limit would be fine. I love hunting but 6 deer a year is quite a lot. I've been averaging about 3 with a hog added in there and my freezer has meat all year. To produce bigger deer the limits will have to be more strict. I used to not care about that stuff when I was younger but now that I'm older, I want to see the herd be more mature

[Montauk17]

Originally Posted by FF_T_Warren

I think a lower bag limit would be fine. I love hunting but 6 deer a year is quite a lot. I've been averaging about 3 with a hog added in there and my freezer has meat all year. To produce bigger deer the limits will have to be more strict. I used to not care about that stuff when I was younger but now that I'm older, I want to see the herd be more mature

I agree 100%....Hate seeing the old saying if it's brown it's down. I killed a 220 pound buck and a 120 pound doe last year and still have meat in the freezer.